1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an apparatus for diagnosing and rehabilitating bodily injuries and more particularly to an apparatus for diagnosing and rehabilitating kinesthetic impairment resulting from bodily injuries.
2. Background Information
Skeletal or tissue injuries to the human body are commonly accompanied by kinesthetic impairment. Kinesthesis is a term which generally encompasses an individual's perception of the movement and position of his body in space. The perception derives from sensory feedback from the joints or soft tissue including muscles, ligaments and tendons. Kinesthetic impairment is especially acute when it impacts the lower limbs because the impairment may diminish an individual's balance or mobility, particularly in athletic endeavors.
Diagnosis of the extent or rehabilitative progress of skeletal or soft tissue injuries is commonly measured by determining the range of motion or degree of strength in the region of the injury. However, these criteria do not always adequately characterize the injury because they do not measure kinesthetic impairment. Similarly, exercises designed to rehabilitate the injury commonly focus on restoring strength and range of motion to the region of the injury with little or no specificity to restoring kinesthetic function. Thus, although an injury may appear fully rehabilitated based on an evaluation of the strength and range of motion in the region of the injury, the patient may not have experienced full kinesthetic rehabilitation.
As such, a diagnostic device is needed which enables one to diagnose the extent of initial kinesthetic impairment from a bodily injury and to diagnose the subsequent degree of kinesthetic rehabilitation resulting from treatment of the injury. Further, a treatment device is needed which advances kinesthetic rehabilitation of the injury.